Mr. Chair, I wanted to come back to the question that I asked the witness from the Shipping Federation of Canada. This is what he said, “I don't see the reason for this law.”
Mr. Chair, is it really the committee's job to play the sorcerer's apprentice with Canada's environmental laws? That is what we need to ask ourselves when considering Mr. Warawa's motion. That is the question I put to you, Mr. Chair, and to myself. My answer is “no”. I have no intention of wreaking havoc on Canada's environmental regime with a bill that would create regulatory unpredictability, according to all the stakeholders. Mr. Chair, we heard from a number of witnesses that this bill would make life very unstable for them.
Obviously, I want to start by talking about a witness who, in my view, is extremely important, Mr. Irving, the president of the Canadian Hydropower Association. As we all know, Hydro-Québec is a member of that association, Mr. Chair. These people ran out of adjectives to describe just how disastrous this bill would be for the hydroelectric industry, Mr. Chair. This is a bill they described as “harmful” and “destructive”, Mr. Chair. This is a bill that would have extremely detrimental and disastrous ramifications for the country's hydroelectric development, a jewel in Canada's renewable energy crown. This is a bill that would harm the development of green energy sources, Mr. Chair. And that is nothing to scoff at.
Not only did we hear about the redundancies the bill would create, Mr. Chair, but we also heard a lot about the uncertainty this bill would create, particularly in terms of the legal actions it would expose developers to. We know that this kind of legislation would totally discourage investors from undertaking any sustainable development projects, Mr. Chair—the people who have plans, the people who truly want to pursue sustainable development initiatives—because they would have to operate within a process that would open them up to legal action. Their position is clear. This is a bill that would hinder sustainable development by creating a climate of uncertainty. I think the Canadian Hydropower Association made its view abundantly clear.
But theirs was not the only evidence we heard. We received a legal analysis covering five points, which, to my mind, are extremely relevant, and that analysis is even more reason to support Mr. Warawa's motion, especially if members care about respecting federal and provincial jurisdiction.
Mr. Chair, you know that we are committed to the principle of open federalism. That means that we accept that the environment is an area of shared jurisdiction. So we must ensure that the federal government's legislative agenda respects areas of provincial jurisdiction. Bill C-469 clearly infringes upon provinces' jurisdictional authority over the environment, as I just mentioned. As we all know, under the Constitution Act, 1867, the environment is an area of shared jurisdiction. We also know that since that time, environmental law has come a long way. And that has been possible because we have been able to maintain a balance, Mr. Chair. Under this bill, anyone would be able to challenge a bill at any time, but only after it had gone through all the legal, administrative and environmental channels.
We know, for instance, that Quebec has instruments such as the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE) in place. We also know that the Canadian government works alongside the BAPE. When a situation arises requiring intervention under the law, Canadian legislation stipulates that an assessment be done, and that assessment is carried out jointly, Mr. Chair. That brings to mind a project that was subject to a joint assessment by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the BAPE—the LNG terminal project, to name just one.
So, as you can see, there are already mechanisms in place. Once the process has been completed, once a decision has been reached, Mr. Chair, and reasonable and necessary adjustments have been made, we have to live with those consequences.
Under this bill, anyone could turn everything upside down and create a climate of legal uncertainty. That is totally unacceptable. That infringes upon the provincial domain.
For that reason alone, the bill should be withdrawn, reviewed and reworked to make sure that it respects jurisdictional authority, one of the tenets of Canadian federalism.
As I mentioned, by jeopardizing the future of hydroelectric projects, the bill creates an imbalance in terms of sustainable development, an area that seeks to align the interests of the environment, the economy and society. At the end of the day, this bill throws that balance out of whack. It duplicates existing legislation, as we saw, Mr. Chair.
Of course, one of the most important points was raised by the officials from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. They told the committee that we could not move forward with this bill because it did not make any sense. It does not take into account decades of work on the part of parliamentarians to set up national environmental protection agencies.
Mr. Chair, we have clearly seen that this bill truly creates considerable legal uncertainty, for all sorts of reasons. That is why we absolutely must take the time to discuss Mr. Warawa's motion at length and to carefully consider our role as parliamentarians. And as such, we have a duty. We must do the responsible thing and defeat the bill.
In conclusion, I would remind you of what the Canadian Hydropower Association said. Stakeholders in other industries shared those same concerns with us.
For those reasons, Mr. Chair, I intend to support Mr. Warawa's motion. And through you, as always, Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues across the way and my Quebec colleagues to stand up for sustainable development in Quebec and to put a stop to this bill.
Thank you.